for Business
The podcast for owners, operators, and decision-makers building and running Australia’s critical industries — from data centres and AI infrastructure to the facilities that keep the country’s most essential sectors operational.
Why Connected should have a podcast — and why now
There are construction podcasts in Australia. Kapitol has one. The sector is not short of voices talking about procurement, project delivery, and industry trends. What doesn’t exist is a show with genuine expertise in the facilities that can’t afford to get it wrong — the data centres, the labs, the AI infrastructure, the advanced manufacturing environments where operational failure has consequences well beyond the building itself.
That’s the gap. Not “construction podcast” — we’d be late to that. The gap is a show that speaks with authority to the owners and operators of Australia’s critical industries, and positions Connected as the firm that understands how to build them.
Owning “critical industries”
We are coining a term that doesn’t yet have an owner in the Australian market. A podcast is the fastest way to plant a flag — every episode that uses the term builds its meaning and associates it with Connected.
Pipeline development
Prospects listen to client conversations. A single episode featuring a client in data centres or AI infrastructure is the most effective business development asset we can create for that sector. It’s proof, not pitch.
Authority that compounds
A podcast builds credibility in a way that case studies and LinkedIn posts can’t. Each episode is a permanent, searchable asset. The audience that finds us in six months is just as valuable as the one listening today.
We ran a pilot. Here’s what it told us.
Season one was two episodes, no promotion strategy, no co-host structure, and an inconsistent publishing cadence. By most measures it was under-resourced. And yet the audience it found engaged with genuine intent — and that’s the most important data point in this pitch.
The pilot wasn’t designed to scale. It was designed to test whether the format worked. It did. Season two is what happens when we actually back it. — The case for season two
The “critical industries” play
The construction and facilities sector has no unifying language for the projects that matter most — the ones where getting it wrong has consequences that extend well beyond the building itself. Data centres going offline. Pharmaceutical cold chains failing. Food safety labs without power. Advanced manufacturing lines that can’t restart.
We’re calling this category critical industries. It doesn’t exist as a defined term yet in the Australian market — which means Connected can own it.
The podcast is how we introduce this term to market. Every episode filed under “critical industries” — whether it’s the data centre boom, a client conversation with a food testing lab, or AI and automation in construction — reinforces the category and positions Connected as the firm that understands it best.
The podcast for owners, operators, and decision-makers building and running Australia’s critical industries — from construction economics to the data centres and AI infrastructure shaping the country’s future.
The name does the work. It tells the listener immediately who this is for and what kind of conversation they’re going to get. No jargon, no sector-specific acronyms — just a direct signal to the decision-makers we want in the room.
“Could a client, a developer, or a builder listen to this and say: that’s the most honest thing I’ve heard someone in this industry say publicly? If yes — publish it. If it sounds like a marketing deck — record it again.” — Editorial standard for every episode
Episode type mix
Season two uses a three-track structure. Two tracks are fixed — industry intelligence and client conversations. The third rotates across three original formats that don’t exist elsewhere in the Australian market, keeping the feed varied and giving us a genuine point of difference.
How the rotation works: The Number and The Watchlist sit between longer episodes to maintain cadence without requiring guest bookings. Outside the Room is scheduled like a full episode. A typical six-episode block might run: Industry Intelligence → The Number → Client Conversation → Outside the Room → Industry Intelligence → The Watchlist.
Format decisions
Every format choice below is deliberate. This is a low-cost, high-return investment that gets smarter with each episode produced.
| Host | Emma — but build a signature style, not just interview format |
| Co-host | Simon as recurring sparring partner — internal or external — for commentary episodes |
| Length | 30–45 min (industry intelligence) · 20–25 min (client conversations) · 10–20 min (The Number / The Watchlist) |
| Cadence | One episode per month minimum · fortnightly if capacity allows |
| Clips | 3 social clips per episode minimum — 60 sec for LinkedIn, 30 sec for reels |
| Distribution | Spotify + Apple Podcasts + YouTube (video format strongly recommended) |
| Guest amplification | Build a guest kit — make it effortless for them to share |
Six episodes, ranked by priority
These aren’t arbitrary topics. Each one is chosen because it is timely, Connected has genuine expertise or a client story to tell, and it will resonate with exactly the decision-makers we want as future clients.
25% of all Australian insolvencies over five years. This is timely, data-rich, and directly relevant to Connected’s clients who are carrying contractor risk right now. Simon is essential here — he can speak to what insolvency actually looks and feels like mid-project. Emma holds the client and financial exposure angle.
$10M/MW, the infrastructure arms race, and what it means for facilities operators. Connected has genuine expertise here — this is an authority play. Emma leads on the client, operator, and investment angle. Simon leads on the delivery reality: programme, long-lead equipment, the $10M/MW pressure on contractors.
First client voice on the show. Shifts the podcast from opinion to proof. Prospects listen to clients, not just industry experts. Emma leads as primary host — this is a client relationship episode. Simon joins for a defined segment asking specifically about the build process: what made the facility work, what was hard, what they’d do differently.
Second client voice. Pair these two back-to-back or in the same season block — they establish Connected’s cross-sector capability beyond construction. Emma owns the relationship. Simon joins to probe the lab fitout and operational commissioning story — what that client went through to get their facility live is exactly his territory.
Why is a sector worth hundreds of billions resisting the tools that would save it? Simon carries significant credibility here — he can speak to what actually gets adopted on site vs what is theoretical. Emma challenges on why clients aren’t demanding more. High-tension episode, great listen.
Australia’s productivity in construction has been in structural decline for decades. Make this the Emma and Simon debrief episode — no external guest. They react to the Grattan data together. Simon gives the site reality, Emma gives the client and investment read. Lowest prep, highest impact. Great for launching the co-host dynamic.
Three ways to use Simon — not just one
Simon’s involvement shouldn’t be uniform across every episode. His value varies by episode type, and using him in the wrong format dilutes both his contribution and the episode quality. The proposed model is three distinct roles:
Full co-host
Both Emma and Simon present for the full episode. Best for expert industry guests where both perspectives need to challenge the guest throughout.
3 of 6 episodesSegment guest
Emma leads the episode; Simon joins for a defined 10-minute segment to give the construction reality check. Best for client conversation episodes.
2 of 6 episodesDebrief duo
No external guest — just Emma and Simon reacting to a report, a news story, or a trend. Lowest prep, highest authenticity. Great filler and social clip content.
1 of 6 episodesFull topic list — beyond season one
The six priority episodes get us to air quickly. Below is the full pipeline of 23 topics developed for future seasons — a mix of industry intelligence, client stories, and timely debate formats. This demonstrates the long-term content runway available to us.
Construction insolvency crisis
25% of Australian insolvencies — the data and the human cost
The data centre boom
What’s behind the rise and what it means for the construction industry
Client conversations — ALS
Environmental TIC specialist — building a specialist facility
Client conversations — MNAQ
Food testing specialist — commissioning a lab at scale
Construction productivity decline
Decades of structural decline — what the data actually says
Mental health in construction
Guest: Beyond Blue & Simon. The sector’s least talked-about crisis
SQM rates — debrief
The necessity, the challenges, the disaster stories, and the guidance
The power debate — debrief
Issues with upgrades, connections, delays, solar — Emma & Simon
Sustainability story
Guest: David Keenan / ISP2 — what sustainable construction actually looks like
Automation in practice
Guest: Kevin from Dulux & Healius pathology — what’s actually being adopted
Client conversations — quality testing
Heritage buildings, legacy constraints, specialist fitout
Greenfield vs brownfield — debrief
Blank slate vs working with existing — through a construction lens
Race to the bottom
Why the industry is so focused on cost — and what else actually matters
Modular construction
What it actually means and how it works — or doesn’t — in reality
Change management in construction
How to use a build project as a change management tool
Relocation challenges & opportunities
Guest: relocation expert — the business decision behind the move
Live construction
Building in operational environments — the brief, the risk, the execution
Commissioning
The phase most clients underestimate — and why it costs them
Client procurement
The issues and opportunities with client-procured items in major capital works
The rise of consolidation
What sector consolidation means for clients, contractors, and sub-trades
Adaptive reuse
Converting existing buildings — commercial, industrial, and what works
Not enough power?
The infrastructure deficit and what it means for development pipelines
Facility’s role in attraction & retention
Guest: Sarah — how workplace design drives talent outcomes
What we’re asking for
This is not a large investment. Most of what’s needed — the expertise, the relationships, the opinions — we already have. The ask is for time, a modest production budget, and a commitment to do this properly for at least one season.
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1Greenlight season one. Six episodes. Twelve months. A clear brief for Emma and Simon to build toward.
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2Confirm the production model. In-house recording with a freelance editor, or engage a specialist podcast production partner. Budget to be confirmed once the approach is agreed.
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3Start with episode one. The insolvency episode is ready to brief today. The guest target is clear, the angle is set, and the episode writes itself. A pilot gives us something to react to before committing to a full season.
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4Build the distribution engine in parallel. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and a LinkedIn clip strategy. The social clips are where most of the audience will find us — the long-form is the credibility anchor.